High-speed double twist twisting apparatus mainly adapted to twist steel wires

ABSTRACT

A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist steel wires, comprising a plurality of wire suppliers each having a base pedestal, a main shaft rotatable relative to said pedestal, a first flyer fixed to said shaft, a frame mounted on said first flyer, a wire supply source adapted to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal, even while said flyer rotates, and a plurality of guide rollers mounted on said frame, said wire suppliers each imparting two back-twists to a wire delivered from said wire supply source for each rotation of said first flyer; a back tension capstan for imparting back tension to a group of wires delivered from said wire suppliers; an open-shaped twister having a pair of second flyers being C-shaped and diametrically opposed to each other and supporting a take-up motion between said second flyers via a frame, for imparting a first twist to said group of wires; and a third flyer adapted to be rotated in the same direction and at the same speed as said twister, for imparting a second twist to said group of wires; said third flyer having a twist pitch determining capstan, a wire straightener, a coarse winder, and a slip capstan all supported in said flyer via a frame.

United States Patent. [191 Yoshida et al.

[111 7 3,828,538 [45] Aug. 13, 1974 HIGH-SPEED DOUBLE TWIST TWISTING APPARATUS MAINLY ADAPTED TO TWIST STEEL WIRES I [75] Inventors: Tokuji Yoshida; 'Mitsuii Amakasu,

both of Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Yoshida Engineering Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Dec. 13, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 314,553

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Vogelsberg 57/5852 X Primary EJ cami'nerDonald E. Watkins Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Milton Osheroff ABSTRACT A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist steel wires, comprising a plurality of wire suppliers each having a base pedestal, a main shaft rotatable relative to said pedestal, a first flyer fixed to said shaft, a frame mounted on said first flyer, a wire supply source adapted .to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal, even while said flyer rotates, and a plurality of guide rollers mounted on said frame, said wire suppliers each imparting two back-twists to a wire delivered from said wire supply source for each rotation of said first flyer; a back tension capstan for imparting back tension to a group of wires delivered from said wire suppliers; an open-shaped twister having a pair of sec- 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a high-speed double twist twisting apparatus mainly for twisting steel wires. Generally in the case of forming stranded steel wires as seen in FIG. 3, in order to ensure what is called dead cord, it has been necessary to first impart back-twists to the wires W in advance, secondly twist them together, and then apply them to a wire straightener as well as coarsely wind further wires on them, thus obtaining stable twists, because the steel wire has a far higher modulus of elasticity and lower plasticity compared with the copper wire or the aluminum wire. Conventionally, there have been a variety of wire twisting apparatuses of the above-mentioned type which: (1) rotate cage-shaped supply means provided with frames corresponding to the numberof wires to be twisted, (2) impart a back-twist to each wire to be supplied for each revolution of the cage, (3) collect the back-twisted wires through a collecting die and twist thesame, (4) apply said twisted wires to a wire straightener as well as impart a coarse winding to them, and (5) wind the resulting strand onto a bobbin or a drum.

However, these conventional types of wire twisting apparatus had the disadvantages that they were impossible to operate at high speeds owing to the cage being very heavy in weight, and that they were not able to give any more than a single back-twist and a single twist to each wire per revolution of the cage, thus displaying an extremely low efficiency in operation. It has been far from possible for the conventional types of wire double twist twisting apparatus to twist together steel wires continuously and smoothly as well as speedily in a single process for various reasons. In the case of twisting together steel wires by the conventional wire double twist twisting apparatus, twist stabilizing devices such as a wire straightener, a coarse winder and the likehad to be provided prior to a take-up motion within the frame of the twister, which necessitated the employment of a frame of a larger size. As a consequence, the portion of the wire group which revolved around said long and large-sized frame had to have a long span,

which inevitably made the centrifugal force thereof larger enough to cause larger swinging of the wire group in radial directions, resulting in the entanglement of the wires with fixtures on the peripery of the apparatus. If high back tension is applied to the wire group so as to avoid the swinging of the wire group, there is a SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed wire double twist twisting apparatus mainly adapted totwist steel wires, which not only is capable of imparting two back-twists to each wire and two twists to the wires twisted together for each revolution of the fly'ers of the twisting apparatus, but also has a much higher rotational speed than a conventional steel wire twisting apparatus, thereby displaying more than twice as high working efficiency as that of a conventional steel wire twisting apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wire double twist twisting apparatus mainly for twisting steel wires whichis capable of accomplishing for itself all the following steps: supplying each wire after imparting it two back-twists for each revolution of the flyer of the wire supplier, collecting the back-twisted wires, imparting two twists to these collected wire group per revolution of the flyer of the twister, then straightening said wire group, further coarsely winding additional wires on them, and then winding the resulting strand onto a bobbin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wire twisting apparatus which is provided with wire suppliers each capable of imparting two back-twists to each wire before supplying it outside the wire supplier.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a high-speed wire twister which has open-type flyers provided with a take-up motion, thereby being capable of rotating at high speeds as well as facilitating the replacement of the take-up bobbin with a new one.

Still further object of the present invention is to pro- A vide a steel wire twisting apparatus which is provided with not only a capstan for determining the pitch of twisted wires or the lead to a twist thereof, and a slip capstan, but also a back tension applying means,

thereby securing stable twisting of the wires without BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view showing a whole wire twisting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2is a lateral sectional view showing the wire supply section of the same apparatus viewed from the direction of the arrow A of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view showing twisted steel wire products manufactured by means of a wire twisting apparatus according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 generally represents a wire supply mechanism, in which there are installed wire suppliers corresponding to the number of thewires W to be twisted (seven suppliers are shown in the drawing). Description will hereunder be made with respect to said wire supply mechanism by reference to FIG. I as well as FIG. 2. The reference numeral 101 is an immovably fixed base pedestal, on which there is rotatably supported a main shaft 102 with a central bore 102a coaxially disposed therethrough,

. being inclined with respect to the horizontal line of the wire supply mechanism, for example, via a ball bearing. On this main shaft 102 a flyer 103 is fixedly mounted which is provided with a lightweight frame 104 made of wire, steel band, or the like. A bobbin support 105 is obliquely disposed on the central portion of the flyer 103 for supporting a wire bobbin B which supplies wire W. The top of the frame 104 is rotatably supported by an immovably fixed member 112 such as a stem provided on a wall of the building, or a part of the base pedestal 101. Thus, the mainshaft 102, the flyer 103, and the frame 104 are stably rotatable, all being equally inclined with respect to the horizontal line of the wire supply mechanism. The frame 104 is provided with a guide roller 106 on the extension of the longitudinal axis of the main shaft 102,'and the flyer 103 with a guide roller 108 on the extension of the same axis. The frame 104 is also provided with an appropriate number of additional guide rollers interposed between said rollers 106 and 108, one of said additional guide rollers being denoted by the reference numeral 107. In addition, the base 101 is provided with a guide roller 109 on the extensio of the longitudinal axis of the main shaft 102, for altering the run of the wire. Furthermore, guide rollers 110 and 111 are provided as shown in FIG. 2 for guiding the run of the wire outside the wire supplier. In this wire supplier, the bobbin support 105 supporting the bobbin B is connected to the main shaft 102 via a frictionless bearing, and is inclined with respect to the base 101. Therefore, owing to its own weight, it is kept stationary together with the base 101 even while the main shaft 102 and the flyer 103 rotate. Accordingly, the wire to be fed from the bobbin B out is twisted for a first time at the guide roller 106, and is again twisted for a second time between the guide rollers 108 and 109, thus being given double twists in total.

Further, instead of the above-mentioned construction wherein the bobbin support is disposed obliquely with respect to the pedestal so that due to its own weight, the bobbin support may remain stationary together with the base even during the rotation of the flyer, an alternate construction may be employed (not shown) wherein the connection between the pedestal 101 and the bobbin support 105 is made by intervening generally known differential gears therebetween, so as to keep stationary the bobbin support even while the flyer is rotating.

Still further, the wire supply source need not be restricted to such bobbin in the preferred embodiment, and a common pay-off-pak may be employed instead. A plurality of wires delivered from the wire suppliers are fed into a back tension capstan '2 as shown in FIG. 1. This capstan has two rolls 201 and 202 which are connected to a torque motor or the like to impart appropriate back tension to the wires to be twisted. In the preferred embodiment, a switch board 7 is provided on the back tension capstan 2.

Next, the wires W to be twisted together are guided into a wire twister represented generally by 3, after passing through a wire separator 8. In this wire twister, diametrically opposed bearing stands, 301 and 302 are provided which contain driving members such as gear trains respectively. On the both bearing stands there are rotatably supported hollow shafts 303 and 304 respectively which face each other in coaxial relationship. Further, C-shaped flyers 305 and 306 are fixed to the hollow shafts 303 and 304 respectively so as to extend radially of the common axis of the hollow shafts 303 and 304 and be positioned between the bearing stands 301 and 302. Said hollow shafts 303 and 304 disposed between the bearing stands 301 and 302 are mutually rotated in the same direction and at the same speed by means of a main driving shaft 6 which is driven by a main drive motor 5 located in an appropriate place.

A frame is journalled in the hollow shafts 303 and 304, on which are mounted a take-up bobbin 308 and a take-up motion having a means for rotating said takeup bobbin such as a torque motor (not shown). On the flyer 305 a guide roller 309 is mounted in such a manner that the groove bottom thereof is located on the central axis of the hollow shaft 303, and on the flyer 306 the guide roller 314 in such a manner that the groove bottom thereof is located slightly above the central axis of the hollow shaft 304. Further, said flyers 305 and 306 are provided with guide rollers 310, 311 and 312, 313 respectively at placed adjacent one of the radially extending ends thereof.

In FIG. 1, the wire group to be twisted together travels from the left side into the hollow shaft 303, in which the wire group is twisted together for a first time, then passes through guide rollers 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, and 314 in order thereof, and is guided inside the hollow shaft 304 along the interior side slightly above the central axis thereof, thus leaving the wire twister 3. The wire group to be stranded makes a motion like a skipping rope between the guide rollers 311 and 312, without contacting nor being supported by anything, while the flyers 30S and 306 rotate. These open-type flyers, being one of the features of the present invention, dispense with the connecting members therebetween, thus not only reducing the total weight of these flyers, but also being capable of rotating at high speeds. Since the wire group in a motion like a skipping rope is apt to radially run out due to the centrifugal force caused by the high speed rotation of the wire twister, it will be advantageous for the span or distance between the guide rollers 311 and 312 to be as short as possible. For this purpose, preferably the wire twister is so constructed that nothing but the take-up motion is mounted on the frame 307 so as to make short the distance between the flyers 305 and 306, that is, the length of the frame 307. Also this construction is one of the features of this invention.

After leaving the wire twister 3, the twisted wire group is guided into a wire straightener and a coarse winder indicated generally by 4. Generally, they have about the same construction as the aforementioned wire twister 3 but, they have the bearing stand 302 in common with the wire twister 3 at the left side thereof according to the drawing, to which stand is opposed another bearing stand 402.

On these bearing stands 302 and 402 there are respectively provided hollow shafts 403 and 404 facing each other, on which shafts are mounted flyer members 405 and 406 respectively, connected with each other by means of connecting members one of which is indicated by 408 in the drawing, to generally form a flyer.

Preferably these flyer members 405 and 406 may be as short as possible in radial length so as to minimize the centrifugal force for facilitation of the high speed rotation thereof. Guide rollers 412 and 415 are provided on the hollow shafts 403 and 404 respectively in the same manner as in the case of the guide rollers 309 and 314, while guide rollers 413 and 414 are provided along the connecting members. Thus, the flyer formed by flyer members 405'and 406 is rotated by the main driving shaft 6 in the same direction and at the same speed as the flyers of the wire twister. Between the hollow shafts 403 and 404 there is suspended a frame 407 via ball-and-roller bearings or the like, on which are provided a pitch determining capstan 416, a wire straightener 411, a coarse winder 409, a spare cheese 410 (a wire supply source in a cylindrical form) for coarse winding, a slip capstan 417 which are arranged in order from right to left, that is, in the. direction in which the wires twisted together or strand travels, as shown in FIG. 1. l The twisted wire group delivered from the wire twister 3 through the hollow shaft 403 passes over guide rollers 412, 413, and 414, and then turns by approximately 180 at a guide roller 415, thus travelling leftwards into a pitch determing capstan .416. They twisted wire group is given a twist for a second timebetween the guide roller 415 and the pitch determining capstan 416 into a strand. The designation a pitch determining capstan 416 comes from its function of determining the twist pitch of the strand product or the lead to a twist of the strand by presetting its own draw speed with respect to the rotational speed of the flyers of the wire twister 3. Said pitch determining .capstan 416, the slip capstan 417 to be described hereinafter, and the coarse winder 409 are connected with each other via the hollow shaft 404, a planetary gear transmission, and speed change gears (the latter two are not shown in the drawing), thus making it possible to rotate them at any desired speed. The wire straightener con-,

sists of a first straighting means 411a having a group of rollers arranged in transversal rows and a second straighting means 411b having a group of rollers in longitudinal rows and said rollers are further arranged in alternation with-each other as shown in the drawing, for

straightening the wire group as it passes through them in contact with the periperies thereof'Thus, the resulting strand delivered from the wire straightener is free of any kinks.

The coarse winder 409 which serves to give the strand coarse winding with wires t, is of a known type having an arm for paying out wires r as it.revolves around the strand.

The slip capstan 417 is driven so that the draw speed thereof may be slightly higher than the draw speed of the pitch determining capstan 416 so as to keep the strand in sufficient tension in the coarse winding process. Since an excess of the draw speed of the former over that of the latter is absorbed by slipping of the slip means (not shown), this capstan 417 is-designated as a slip capstan, by virtue of which good coarse winding is obtained.

The strand delivered from the slip capstan 417- is again drawn into the twister 3 through the hollow shafts 403 and 304, in which it passes over appropriate guide rollers (one of them is shown as 315) and a traverse roller to be wound onto the take-up bobbin 308. This invention also contemplates the replacement of the takeup bobbin with a new one which can be very conveniently made due to the open-type flyers.

Now, description will be hereunder made with respect to the process for manufacturing a strand according to this invention, in the order of the proceeding of 6 the wires: The wires each given double back-twists and delivered from the wire suppliers are guided into the twister 3 through the wire separator 8 by means of the back tension capstan 2, in which they are given a first twist at the guide roller 309 in the hollow shaft 303. The wire group thus given a single twist makes a motion like a skipping rope as it passes through the twister 3, and leaves it, then passing over the flyer accomodating the wire straightener 411 and the coarse winder 409 along the periphery thereof, to the guide roller 415 on the right hand at which it is given a second twist as it is turned back to the left side.

Subsequently, the strand passes through the aforementioned steps until it reaches the take-up bobbin 308, As described above, in .the wire twisting apparatus according to this invention, each wire is given double back-twists and then the wire group double twists for each rotation of each flyer. In addition, the flyers are capable of rotating at high speeds because of the peculiar construction of the apparatus of the present invention, thereby securing twice as high efficiency of twisting as that of a conventional type.

The aforementioned embodiment shows a wire twisting apparatus in which two different frames are used, one for a take-up motion, and the other for a wire straightener and a coarse winder respectively. However, an additional frame may be employed to accomodate either of the straightener and the coarse winder independently of each other. extension It is a spirit of this invention to aim at minimizing the weight and size of each flyer as well as enormously increasing the rotational speed thereof by arranging these means or devices to be separate from each other as far as circumstances permit, so as to avoid a larger size of the frame 'which is suspended by said flyer.

While preferred embodiment of the present invention havebeen described, any modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art except as they appear in the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist to said plurality of wires delivered fromsaid wire suppliers; a twister having a pair of first open-shaped flyers I diametrically opposed to each other, and a take-up motion being suspended by said flyers via a frame, for imparting a first twist to a group of said wires; a second flyer adapted to be rotated in the same direction and at the same speed .as said twister, for imparting a second twist to said group of wires; and a straightener and a coarse winder for coarsely winding additional wire around said group of wires, both suspended by said flyer via a frame.

2. A double twist twisting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said wire suppliers comprises a base pedestal; a third flyer rotating relative to said pedestal; a support for supporting a wire supply source, adapted to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal even while said third flyer rotates; a frame mounted on said third flyer; and a plurality of guide rollers provided on said frame; the wire delivered from said wire supply source being imparted two back-twists for each rotation of said third flyer.

3'. A double twist twisting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a twist pitch detemining capstan supported in said second flyer via said frame; a slip capstan; and a coarse winder interposed between said capstans.

4. A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist steel wires, comprising a plurality of wire suppliers each having a base pedestal, a main shaft rotatable relative to said pedestal, a first flyer fixed to said shaft, a frame mounted on said first flyer, a wire supply source adapted to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal, even while said flyer rotates, and a plurality of guide rollers mounted on said frame, said wire suppliers each imparting two back-twists to a wire delivered from said wire supply source for each rotation of said first flyer; a back tension capstan for imparting back tension to a group of wires delivered from said wire suppliers; an open-shaped twister having a pair of second flyers being C-shaped and diametrically opposed to each other and supporting a take-up motion between said second flyers via a frame, for imparting a first twist to said group of wires; and a third flyer disposed on a step posterior to said twister and adapted to be rotated in the same direction and at the same speed as said twister, for imparting a second twist to said group of wires; said third flyer having a twist pitch detemining capstan, a wire straightener, a coarse winder, and a slip capstan all supported in said flyer via a frame. 

1. A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist steel wires, comprising a plurality of wire suppliers for imparting two back-twists to each wire and feeding it out; a back tension capstan for imparting back tension to said plurality of wires delivered from said wire suppliers; a twister having a pair of first open-shaped flyers diametrically opposed to each other, and a take-up motion being suspended by said flyers via a frame, for imparting a first twist to a group of said wires; a second flyer adapted to be rotated in the same direction and at the same speed as said twister, for imparting a second twist to said group of wires; and a straightener and a coarse winder for coarsely winding additional wire around said group of wires, both suspended by said flyer via a frame.
 2. A double twist twisting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said wire suppliers comprises a base pedestal; a third flyer rotating relative to said pedestal; a support for supporting a wire supply source, adapted to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal even while said third flyer rotates; a frame mounted on said third flyer; and a plurality of guide rollers provided on said frame; the wire delivered from said wire supply source being imparted two back-twists for each rotation of said third flyer.
 3. A double twist twisting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a twist pitch detemining capstan supported in said second flyer via said frame; a slip capstan; and a coarse winder interposed between said capstans.
 4. A double twist twisting apparatus adapted to twist steel wires, comprising a plurality of wire suppliers each having a base pedestal, a main shaft rotatable relative to said pedestal, a first flyer fixed to said shaft, a frame mounted on said first flyer, a wire supply source adapted to remain stationary with respect to said pedestal, even while said flyer rotates, and a plurality of guide rollers mounted on said frame, said wire suppliers each imparting two back-twists to a wire delivered from said wire supply source for each rotation of said first flyer; a back tension capstan for imparting back tension to a group of wires delivered from said wire suppliers; an open-shaped twister having a pair of second flyers being C-shaped and diametrically opposed to each other and supporting a take-up motion between said second flyers via a frame, for imparting a first twist to said group of wires; and a third flyer disposed on a step posterior to said twister and adapted to be rotated in the same direction and at the same speed as said twister, for imparting a second twist to said group of wires; said third flyer having a twist pitch detemining capstan, a wire straightener, a coarse winder, and a slip capstan all supported in said flyer via a frame. 